Want to meet in person? If you’re visiting northern Vermont contact me (form at the bottom of this page) or catch me at the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival (first weekend in October) or the NY Sheep and Wool Festival (third weekend in October).

Mittens for a Friend, inspired by the Quaker, Rachel Hunter (created by Diana Gabaldon in her series Outlander) are being released to coincide with World Quaker Day, October 2nd, 2016. These mittens feature the Quaker proverb You lift me, and I’ll lift thee, and we will rise together, which speaks to this year’s theme: Connecting Friends, Crossing Cultures and Changing read more

A dream ends on Outlander.. Mittens for a tragedy.. Since Bear McCreary used the Skye Boat Song melody as the basis for his Outlander theme youtube.com is awash in versions of this old song, but this one strikes me as particularly authentic.. if the song can be called authentic at all. The Skye Boat Song read more

The 18th century physician attributed the common cold to the “sucking in” of, essentially “noxious and moist” air, and “nitrous salts” which were inclined to “thicken the blood” and obstructing the “finer secretions.” 18th century cold remedies were designed to soothe the sufferer and cure the cold.. before it developed into something more serious. In some read more

When I was growing up there were two camps and three second homes on our road. One of the camps belonged to my grandmother who was, likely, one of the few people who could walk from their first home to their second when it came time to air it out in the spring. My grandmother’s camp was occupied summer and read more

If you can only have one Outlander Adventure… make it dying with indigo. Bree made herself a blue wool dress, using indigo to dye the wool. Which made me wonder.. what color was Bree’s dress? That’s simple, indigo blue, right? Well.. not necessarily. I’ve kept a flock of sheep for decades… and have never dyed with indigo. read more

While I haven’t fallen through any stones lately I have 18th century days. And this was definitely one of those days. Fresh ginger root is, along with lemons, one of those basics we just expect to find in the grocery. In fact, it is one of those items you’d have expected to find in a marginally stocked store read more

Claire and her hair… From the castle at Leoch to the French court.. to colonial America, if it isn’t inciting envy it’s in her way, being pinned into submission, or scandalizing, since she refuses to cover it properly with a mop cap. Claire’s hair seems to naturally hold an 18th century hairstyle other women had to read more